I have been pronouncing the word "cache" as kaysh. I know a few people who pronounce it more like cash, cashay or even catch. After consulting a few dictionaries, it turns out that the correct pronunciation of the word "cache" is cash.

My question is, are the other pronunciations of "cache" (kaysh, cashay, catch) not totally acceptable?

@Close-voters: If you look at the "related" column at the right pane of this page, you'll see lots of questions starting with "Pronunciation of ..."; so you should really vote to close them too. I don't think this is a general reference question.
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Mehper C. PalavuzlarMay 23 '11 at 17:49

7 Answers
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Both are therefore "correct" in the sense that they will be correctly understood by a wide cross-section of English speakers. I believe there's a preference for /keɪʃ/ in IT circles, but I certainly use both in a highly inconsistent manner. English is wonderful like that!

Edit, lest I forget to confirm what other people have said: /kætʃ/ and /kæʃeɪ/ are entirely different words, "catch" and "cachet" respectively. Using either of those pronunciations to mean "cache" will most likely get you looks of blank incomprehension.

In the U.S. IT world, I think you pronounce it /kæʃ/, just like most of the rest of the U.S. I have never heard /keɪʃ/.
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Peter Shor May 23 '11 at 14:12

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Cache being a word introduced in the Dutch language, we pronounce it /keɪʃ/, so does our IT sector.
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Derk-Jan KarrenbeldMay 23 '11 at 15:06

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I am not aware of /keɪʃ/ being a pronunciation that has any currency in any native English-speaking regions. It certainly isn't countenanced by any dictionaries I have access to, American or British.
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nohat♦May 24 '11 at 6:58

@nohat: and yet I hear it all the time. I think this is one of those occasions where the dictionaries are lagging behind usage, and usage is culturally and geographically muddled as well.
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user1579May 24 '11 at 16:08

A professor at my university always pronounced it French, because he said it's from French caché (from cacher, to hide). This is not the same as kash-ey though. German Wikipedia notes the French origin, but also states the pronounciation kash, just like English Wikipedia.
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OregonGhostMay 23 '11 at 12:11

@OregonGhost: From etymonline.com: 1797, "hiding place," from French Canadian trappers' slang, "hiding place for stores" (1660s), a back formation from Fr. cacher "to hide, conceal" (13c., O.Fr. cachier), from V.L. *coacticare "store up, collect, compress," frequentative of L. coactare "constrain," from coactus pp. of cogere "to collect" (see cogent). Sense extended by 1830s to "anything stored in a hiding place." — So it was taken from the French word cache, with a mute e.
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CerberusMay 23 '11 at 14:40

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@OregeonGhost - caché (with the accent over the 'e') is 'hidden' i.e. the past tense of cacher and pronounced the same. Without the accent, the final 'e' isn't pronounced, therefore pronounced 'cash'.
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tinydMay 23 '11 at 14:58

Here in Australia it is common to hear it pronounced "kaysh". An american friend of mine pronounces it "cash" and I am always aware that his pronunciation differs from the local norm. I can't recall ever hearing "ka-shay" and I suspect @Bacon Bits is correct that it is a conflation with cachet.

I am not sure any pronunciation would be totally unacceptable as long as they do not cause any misunderstanding. Of course, it would be nice to pronounce it correctly. I have heard the word pronounced as 'cashay', 'catchay' etc. in presentations and meetings, but they have been perfectly understood.